Tuulo' N'ataya Palurinie
by Jesse Drache
Summary: Chapter 3 now available
1. Gurtha

Tuulo' N'ataya Paturinie By: Jesse Drache  
  
Disclaimers: Legolas, Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship and otherwise recognizable characters are property of J.R.R. Tolkien and do not belong to me.   
  
Rating: PG-13 but rating may go up with later chapters  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: Gurtha  
  
  
  
Elladan rode through the woods surrounding Imladris accompanied by his twin Elrohir, friend Legolas and Glorfindel his father's seneschal. They dodged low branches and jumped over fallen trees smiling happily as they galloped from clearing to clearing, only slowing down when the foliage became too thick to gallop across.   
  
Suddenly, a bright light shone to their left, startling the horses who violently bucked, almost managing to unseat their riders.   
  
"What was that?" Elladan asked, holding the reigns of his horse to keep it from rushing off.   
  
"It came from that clearing over there," his twin brother Elrohir said, turning his horse to face the cluster of trees from which the light had emanated.   
  
"Let's go see what it was," Glorfindel, who looked much like Legolas but whose eyes held much more wisdom and age, said, galloping towards the trees, the other riders following close behind.   
  
The four elves galloped into the clearing, surprised to find three figures lying on the ground, the grass around and beneath them scorched.  
  
Jumping off his horse, Elrohir walked toward the three figures, which upon further inspection he discerned to be a girl, a younger boy, and a horse, all three were bathed in blood.   
  
The elf gracefully walked around them, taking in the matching red hair on both humans, then leaned down to touch the boy's face.   
  
He wasn't breathing, and lacked a pulse, but his skin had yet to loose all of its warmth.   
  
Looking into the rapidly paling face and his lifeless eyes, Elrohir lost hope in saving the boy's life and closed his blank eyes before moving on to the girl.   
  
Glorfindel dismounted and stood next to the fallen horse, which was screaming and attempting to get up.   
  
The poor creature bellowed and yelled but could not manage to rise.   
  
"Its knees have been broken and it has a puncture wound on its neck. I can't help it," the older elf said, taking the horse's head in his head and snapping its neck, effectively putting the creature out of its misery.   
  
The black haired elf leaned over the girl, placed his head to her chest and his hand in front of her mouth, letting out a relieved sigh when he felt her faint breath on his hand.  
  
"She is still alive, but we need to get her to father immediately," he said, putting his hands underneath her and lifting her up.   
  
"Give her to me," his twin said, holding out his hands as his brother handed over the girl then jumped on his own horse.   
  
Legolas had dismounted his horse, picked up the dead boy's boy and slung it behind his horse.  
  
Together the four riders turned from the clearing, their clothes stained with blood, and rode frantically back to Imladris, the girl and the dead boy's body in tow.   
  
***** 


	2. Me'u

Tuulo' N'ataya Paturinie By: Jesse Drache  
  
Disclaimers: Legolas, Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship and Otherwisee recognizable characters are property of J.R.R. Tolkien and do not belong to me.  
  
Rating: PG-13 but rating may go up with later chapters  
  
  
  
Chapter 2: Me'u  
  
Arien woke to an intense, bright light, which caused her to wince in pain.  
  
Startled by not being able to open her eyes, she tried to sit up, but felt another sharp pain coming from her right side.  
  
"Lie back down," a deep voice said from above her.  
  
Opening her eyes more slowly and trying to look away from the light that only seemed to cause pain, she found herself face to face with a dark haired, gray-eyed elf.  
  
"Where am I?" Arien asked, startled to find herself in a room she didn't recognize surrounded by people that she did not know.  
  
She struggled to sit up and look at the other people in the room. Managing only to raise her head, she glanced at the three other people, meeting their concerned looks with a skeptical one. Following their eyes, she looked down at herself determined to find why they looked so concerned.  
  
She was still in her riding clothes, which were torn and bloody, and her coat had been pulled open so that a wound on her lower right abdomen could be cleaned and bandaged. Her head hurt terribly and her long red hair was tangled and matted with bits of dark blood.  
  
"You are in Imladris," the gray-haired elf told her in a soothing voice, attempting to keep her from sitting up. "I am Lord Elrond."  
  
He began, introducing the other people in the room, although Arien doubted that she would remember their names later.  
  
"These are my sons Elrohir and Elladan and this is Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood. They, along with my seneschal, found you in the woods earlier this evening."  
  
"What is wrong?" Elladan asked, approaching the bed automatically when he saw the startled look on her face.  
  
"Nothing," she answered, then glanced frantically around the room once again as if in search of something, "where is my brother?"  
  
Elrohir frowned and glanced at his father, who solemnly nodded at him.   
  
"I am afraid that your brother is dead. He was already dead when we found the two of you and there was nothing we could do to help." Elladan said in a soft, soothing voice.   
  
Arien looking at him disbelievingly, then after seeing the sympathizing looks of the others in the room, tears begun to form in her eyes.   
  
Ignoring the pain it caused to do so, Arien turned away from the elves in the room and pulled her knees up beneath her chin seeking to draw in on herself as sobs overtook her completely.   
  
"It will all be well," Elrohir soothed, moving closer. He looked at his father for approval, and once he received it, he climbed onto the bed, taking Mara in his arms even though she protested and cradled her small body against his.  
  
Looking at the two figures upon the bed, Elrond glanced around the room, catching the eyes of the other occupants and motioning for them to be left alone.  
  
Elladan walked out of the room willingly, but Legolas looked doubtful and like he did not wish to leave.  
  
His attention was focused solely on the quivering creature on the bed, and the intense look of sadness that he wore on his usually cheerful face, almost made Elrond want to comfort him rather than the girl, but he decided that it would be best if he Elladan and the girl were left alone.  
  
Putting his hand on the young elf's shoulder, he led him out, not missing the backward glances that Legolas shot towards Elrohir and the girl.   
  
After Legolas had departed, Elrond removed a vial out of the medicine cabinet that had been brought into the room and handed it to his son.   
  
"When she has calmed down sufficiently, have her drink this. It will relax her and allow her to rest," Elrond whispered loud enough for only his son's elven hearing to pick up the words.   
  
Elrohir felt Arien relax against him as soon as his father left the room, which made him thoughtful of the fact that the girl's grip on his shirt had tightened and she had sought to bury herself within him whenever his father or any other elf had come near them.  
  
He found her reaction very curious but decided to ignore it for the time being and focused all of his attention on calming the quivering girl in his arms.   
  
***** 


	3. Quel Amrun

Tuulo' N'ataya Paturinie By: Jesse Drache  
  
Disclaimers: Legolas, Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship and otherwise recognizable characters are property of J.R.R. Tolkien and do not belong to me.  
  
Rating: PG-13 but rating may go up with later chapters  
  
  
  
Chapter 3: 'Quel Amrun  
  
  
  
Legolas sat in a hard, wooden chair, his light blue eyes trained on the bedroom door across from him.  
  
The sound of the doorknob turning attracted his attention and he stood up as Elrohir walked out and softly shut the door behind him.  
  
"Lord Elrond went to bed; he left instructions for him to be woken if his help is needed. How is she?" Legolas asked.  
  
"She has finally fallen asleep. She is taking the loss of her brother badly, but I believe that with time, her wounds might be healed." Elrohir said, then looking at the concerned look in his friend's eyes, he put his hand on his shoulder and motioned for them to walk down the hall. "Come, let us go to bed also. I gave her a potion that will keep her asleep for several hours."  
  
"Good night, my friend," Elrohir said, as they reached Legolas's room and he opened the door.  
  
Giving his friend one last encouraging look, Elrohir watched as the prince went in and closed the door behind him.  
  
Legolas waited by his door until Elrohir's steps had faded then quietly sneaked out of his room and to the other end of the hall, where Aerin's room was located.  
  
Opening the door quietly, Legolas entered the dark room.  
  
Using his elven sight to guide him, Legolas made his way to the chair that had been set for Elrond beside the bed.  
  
Looking down at the sleeping girl, he softly stroked her tangled hair and traced his fingers lightly over her tear stained cheeks.  
  
Taking her hand in his, Legolas focused his eyes on the rhythmic rising and falling of the covers as he pulled his legs up bellow him and settled himself for the night.  
  
***  
  
For the second time since her arrival in Imladris, Aerin woke to bright light coming from the open windows to her left.  
  
Shifting in the bed as she slowly tried to get up, Aerin's arm brushed against something warm.  
  
Turning to look, she was surprised to find a blonde elf half-lying on the bed.  
  
Looking down at the sleeping elf, Aerin couldn't help but be filled with strange sense of warmth as she softly stroked the long golden hair that was spread out against her sheets.  
  
She stared at the lovely elf as if memorizing every enticing feature until she felt the stirring of his small body beneath her hand.  
  
"Good morning," she barely whispered as he unburied himself from where his face had been hidden in a mass of golden hair.  
  
"I am sorry," Legolas remarked, his pointed ears turning dark red with embarrassment, as he moved back, purposely not meeting her eyes.  
  
He stood up, ready to flee the room, but was stopped by Aerin's hand on his.  
  
"Do not apologize, for you do nothing but keep me company in this strange place," she smiled, meeting his cerulean eyes.  
  
"Would you like some breakfast?" Legolas asked, smiling at her while absentmindedly stroking her hand with his.  
  
"If you would not mind," Aerin softly answered, smiling at the elf.  
  
Yet Legolas could not help but pick up on the saddened look in her eyes.  
  
Deciding that he would find a way to bring light upon her eyes, Legolas walked out of the room, leaving Aerin to her thoughts.  
  
***** 


	4. Harwa

Tuulo' N'ataya Paturinie By: Jesse Drache  
  
Disclaimers: Legolas, Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship and otherwise recognizable characters are property of J.R.R. Tolkien and do not belong to me.  
  
Rating: PG-13 but rating may go up with later chapters  
  
  
  
Chapter 4: Harwa  
  
Legolas walked down the dimly lit, stone hallway, walking as lightly as possible and trying not to wake anybody up.  
  
He made his way to the kitchen, which he found was already full of activity. Elves walked around taking care of their assigned tasks as they prepared breakfast.  
  
"Good morning, your majesty. Breakfast will not be served for another hour, but is there something you require?" A young, female elf asked, once she spotted the prince, who stood out in his rumpled, royal garments.  
  
"Yes. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but is there any way that I could get into the pantry and get a few pieces of fruit?" Legolas asked.  
  
"Wait here, I will get it for you," the elf said, grabbing a plate and going into the pantry where the fresh fruit was stored.  
  
She returned with a large plate loaded with fruits, breads, and cheeses.  
  
"Thank you," Legolas said, before walking out of the kitchen just as quietly as he had entered.  
  
He would have liked to believe that the elf had gotten him the plate of food out of courtesy, but knew that in reality, she was merely trying to get him out of the kitchen (and out of their way) as quickly as possible.  
  
As he made his way back up the stairs, Legolas encountered Elrohir who also seemed to be heading towards Aerin's room.  
  
His friend looked him up and down, a smile touching his face as he noted the fact that Legolas still wore the same clothes that he had gone to bed with.  
  
"I see that you are up very early, my friend," Elrohir said, purposely not mentioning the prince's questionable state.  
  
"I am merely bringing her breakfast, as a show of friendship," Legolas said, a guilty look reaching his eyes, and a light flush coloring his cheeks.  
  
"Of course," Elrohir said, following Legolas to Aerin's room and giving him a teasing look.  
  
Legolas refused to meet his eyes as he opened the door, but smiled ruefully at his friend before entering the room.  
  
"What would you like to eat? I have fruit, bre-" he was stopped by Elrohir's hand on his shoulder.  
  
Legolas gave his friend a questioning look, then followed Elrohir's gaze to the bed, where Aerin had once again fallen asleep.  
  
  
  
***   
  
Making his way to the side of the bed, Elrohir brushed his hand over Aerin's forehead and checked for a fever or any other sign of worsening in her condition.  
  
"It is nothing, the sedative that my father gave me can have strange effects when taken by humans. She is merely asleep," he said turning back to his friend.  
  
Elrohir noted that for some strange reason, Legolas still remained several feet from the bed, looking down at his feet as if ashamed.   
  
"Are you well, Legolas?" Elrohir asked, looking at his friend strangely.   
  
"I am fine," Legolas replied, placing the plate on the table nearest him.   
  
Elrohir looked at him, a disbelieving look on his face. He moved towards his friend, his mouth opening to say something, but was disturbed when the sudden stirring on the bed drew both their attention to the sleeping girl.  
  
Aerin was struggling in her sleep, mumbling things that could not be made out but that did not sound pleasant.  
  
Moving closer to her, Elrohir put his hand on her forehead and smoothed her hair back.   
  
"She must having a nightmare," Elrohir said as he sat down on the bed next to Aerin.   
  
Elrohir stroked the Aerin's hair as he whispered soothing words in elvish next to her ear.   
  
Legolas watched as Aerin stopped struggling and unconsciously moved closer to Elrohir, a weird feeling rushing to the pit of his stomach.  
  
With one backward glance at the two forms on the bed, Legolas slipped out of the room and down the hallway to his own.  
  
  
  
***** 


	5. Eska

Tuulo' N'ataya Paturinie    By: Jesse Drache  
  
  Disclaimers: Legolas, Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship and otherwise recognizable characters are property of J.R.R. Tolkien and do not belong to me.   
  
  Rating: PG-13 but rating may go up with later chapters  
  
   
  
  Chapter 5: Eska  
  
"Legolas?" Aerin asked when she saw the blonde poke his head through the door and look in the room.  
  
Legolas smiled and stepped in, carefully shutting the door behind him.  
  
"How are you doing?" he asked taking the chair next to the bed.  
  
"Better. I am waiting for Elrohir to return," she said, sitting up with the elf's help and smiling.  
  
"Oh," the elf said, his smile slightly fading, "I will leave you then. I would not want to intrude."  
  
He stood up, turning to leave.  
  
"No, wait," Aerin said, effectively stopping the elf in his tracks. "He has gone to get new bandages and herbs from his father so that he may redress my wound. He will not be back for a while. Please keep me company?"  
  
"Sure," Legolas intoned, reclaiming his seat.  
  
They sat in silence, Legolas hastily glancing about the room, while Aerin gazed at him, a content look on her face.  
  
"Why don't you tell me about your home?" Legolas finally said, hoping to fill the silence.  
  
Aerin nodded slowly and Legolas watched as she closed her eyes for a moment as if calling forth some mental to aid her in her tale.  
  
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, straightening up slightly before beginning her description.  
  
"Elrohir has been telling me about Middle Earth, so I think that I better start by explaining that my home is nothing like Imadris, at least not anymore," she began. "It is always dark and cold. A curse was placed upon the sky and the sun no longer shines upon us. Sometimes you can feel semblances of what must be warmth coming from above, but that is merely a condition of the spell and only lasts long enough to keep the people from dying of exposure. Nothing grows in the wild anymore, except for some weeds. All the trees have died and are bare, like ghosts of what once was. People don't go outside anymore, unless they have to. All the food is grown artificially in rooms with ceilings that are bewitched to mock the sun."  
  
Aerin stopped when she looked up and caught a horrified expression on Legolas' face before the elf had a chance to mask his reaction.  
  
"Is something wrong?" Aerin asked when Legolas' horror was replaced by disbelief.  
  
"You've never seen the sun?" he barely whispered, as if uttering the words in a louder voice would befall the curse upon him and the rest of Middle Earth.  
  
"Not the real sun, but my mother tells me that the recreations are very close," Aerin answered as if stating something obvious and common.  
  
Legolas was suddenly swept by the desire to drag Aerin out of the room and outside to one of Elrond's gardens where he could show her every single living thing that he had always known, not caring about her present wounded state.  
  
Luckily the thoughts were swept from his mind by the sound of a door opening.  
  
"Good morning," Elrohir remarked cheerfully as he walked in, noticing Legolas' presence by the bed and smiling at him.  
  
Legolas attempted to smile back, but finding he could not, decided to distance himself from the other elf under the guise of wanting to allow him room to work in.  
  
Elrohir swept in and laid the herbs, ointments, and strips of gauze that his father had given him neatly on the table before turning and looking down at Aerin, his face turning slightly pink.  
  
"You will need to remove your robe so that I can get to the wound," Elrohir said, looking away embarrassedly.  
  
Aerin nodded and Elrohir strode across the room to stand beside Legolas. Once both their backs were turned, Aerin begun to arrange her garments and Elrohir turned to Legolas.  
  
"My father told me that, although the herbs are easy to administer and do not require his skill as healer to be applied, they are quite painful when first administered to an open wound. If you do not mind, will you please help me distract her while I redress the wound?" he asked the blonde.  
  
Legolas nodded and turned when Aerin signaled that she was ready.  
  
They turned to find that Aerin had managed to arrange the blankets and her robe in a manner that exposed her wound but to keep as much skin as possible covered.  
  
Legolas moved to the side of the bed opposite Elrohir and sat on the edge attempting to continue their previous conversation.  
  
"How was it that you came to be in the woods where we found you?" he asked and Aerin turned her gaze to him and away from Elrohir who was grinding something into a thick paste.  
  
Aerin was silent for a moment, drudging up memories that she would rather not remember and that had grown slightly hazy since she had deliberately not thought of them in days.  
  
Slowly Legolas took a seat on the edge of the bed and reached down and took her hand in his.  
  
Aerin opened, her eyes, not looking at either of them but up at the ceiling before she began.  
  
"I had an argument with my mother. I was so angry," she said slowly, as if the memory of that day were occurring in real time.  
  
Legolas gazed intently down at her face while Elrohir begun to uncover the wound.  
  
"I stormed out of the room, as I always did whenever we argued, and as usual my brother, Aubrey, was waiting for me around the corner. Ready with some story or joke to cheer me up before I did something that I would get someone hurt."  
  
Silence fell upon them for a moment, Aerin's expression growing grave.  
  
"How could a mere argument and some anger hurt anyone? Everyone gets angry, they go someplace and calm down," Legolas said, seeing that Elrohir had unwrapped the bandage and had begun cleaning the wound.  
  
Aerin hissed when Elrohir pressed a cold cloth to her skin and begun to clean off the old herbs and ointments that his father had used to help the wound heal.  
  
"Anger does hurt people. It is just different in some from others. Some people get angry and hit people to feel better, well some people do not need to physically make things happen. When I was ten my mother told me that I had to stop seeing my best friend, Laurel, because her father had been imprisoned as a traitor to the crown. It was a lie, I knew that it had to be. I could see the man who had delivered the false accusations, could see everything about him in my mind as if I knew what he thought. I told my mother and she ignored me. Anger begun to well up inside me until I thought I would explode from it. Then suddenly everything grew quiet and it was as if I had never been angry. I found out the next day from my mother that Laurel's father was free. His accuser had been found dead in house. Apparently his tongue had been ripped out and he had bled to death from the wound, although no one knew who had done it or how the man had bled from a wound that could have easily been treated had he merely gone to the doctor next door."  
  
"That does not mean that it was you. Anyone could have been angry at that man and killed him," Legolas said, his voice sounding reasonable.  
  
"On the contrary, I had everything to do with it. I knew the man had lied, I could picture him in my mind and I wanted him to pay. It had happened before. Often strange things happen in my home because some person may be from a certain bloodline that has strong magic in its heritage and cannot control their actions. But rarely do the things that I make happen occur. Anyone else would have only been able to make his tongue bleed, maybe cause a headache, but because of my lineage, I made his entire tongue disintegrate."  
  
Legolas flinched at the cold tone in Aerin's voice, meeting Elrohir's eyes and finding the same concern there as the elf continued to clean the wound.  
  
"But my brother always sought to calm me down, knowing that I would regret whatever I did. So as I rounded the corner, he stopped me mid-stride and suggested we go outside. So I followed him out of the building to this forest of dead trees that we used to play in when we were kids," Aerin winced and let out small cry, her hand tightening on Legolas' when Elrohir begun to apply the burning ointment.  
  
She took a breath and continued, "But I walked past the trees and into the stables. I made him go riding with me. I wanted to get away. So we rode past the gates, out of the walls were it was safe. While we were out we were attacked by five men on horses and Aubrey was dismounted. I turned around to pick him up, and as we rode back to the gates, they cornered us and I had to turn to the woods. They started shooting arrows."  
  
She rose slightly when Elrohir started to rebind the wound by wrapping strips of cloth her abdomen.  
  
"They tried to hit me in order to dismount me, but Aubrey got in the way, they got me anyway. I tried to ride faster but they shot the horse too. They rounded upon us and I panicked. Aubrey was not speaking and my horse was kicking wildly, keeping the men away for the time being. I closed my eyes, trying to remember lessons from my schooling that had been meant to help me escape situations such as this but the only thing that came to mind was a rare transportation spell that I had read about in a book a long time ago. I closed my eyes and muttered the words. I remember that I felt like I was going to be sick before everything went black. The first thing that I saw when I woke up, was this room." Aerin ended.  
  
"I just want to go home," she whispered mostly to herself.  
  
"I know," Elrohir said, sitting down on the other side of the bed.  
  
"Will you do something, please?" she asked after a moment looking at them pleadingly.  
  
"Sure," Legolas answered, still holding her hand.  
  
"Take me to him. I want to see Aubrey," she said.  
  
Legolas and Elrohir looked at each other gravely.  
  
Elrohir slowly nodded.  
  
***** 


End file.
